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Afternoon Ticker: Columbus lands Mendoza, Robles to Karlsruhe and more

Columbus Crew Crest

By FRANCO PANIZO

The Columbus Crew is set to strengthen its attacking options, as the club is expected to sign Peruvian forward Andres Mendoza.

Mendoza, 32, will sign with the club after impressing during his trial, which began on Monday. The former Peruvian international has previously played for clubs such as Club Brugge, Monarcas Morelia and Olympique Marseille. 

Mendoza was one of the players suspended from Peru's national team in 2007 for bringing women and alcohol to the team hotel just two days before a 5-1 World Cup qualifier defeat to Ecuador.

Here are some more stories to help get you through the day:

Robles to sign with Karlsruhe

Free agent goalkeeper Luis Robles is expected to sign a two-year deal with second division German club Karlsruhe. Robles, who represented the United States in the 2009 Gold Cup, chose not to resign with recently-promoted Kaiserslautern earlier this summer in search for more playing time.

Bielsa signs Chile extension through 2015

Marcelo Bielsa guided Chile to the second round of the World Cup, and as a result, he has landed a contract extension with through the 2015 Copa America. While no financial details were released, media reports state that the Argentine-born coach will receive an increase in his 1.5-million-dollar salary.

Bayern seeks compensation for Robben injury

Bayern Munich is seeking compensation from the Dutch Football Association after learning that Arjen Robben will miss the first two months of the German Bundesliga. Robben is suffering from the same hamstring injury that almost prevented him from playing in the World Cup, and Bayern feels that it was aggravated due to him playing in the Netherlands' run to the World Cup final, which it lost to Spain.

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What do you think of Columbus' acquisition of Mendoza? How do you see Robles faring with Karlsruhe? Think Bielsa will last the entire World Cup cycle with Chile? Will you miss Robben's theatrics over the next two months?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. @Front Row,

    Atm yes. Give MLS 5,10, 20 years. In 5 years we’ll see many more European vets of the big leagues. In 10 years we’ll see more youth players from Africa and Latin America. In 20 years MLS will be probably one of the best football leagues outside of Europe and perhaps the top10 leagues in the world.

    Atm MLS is the equivalent of Denmark or Switzerland. Give it time.

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  2. Robben played for the Dutchies at euro2004 and scored a penalty in the shootout against Sweden. Scored in both the 06 WC and Euro 08 and the 2010 WC. The thing is he hasn’t really been a starter for the NT due to injuries.

    Guys like Kuyt, Van Der Vaart, Robben, Sneijder.

    1 of them has to sit on the bench but who though? Such a great squad. I’d wish they had benched Van Persie in the 2nd half of the final and let Huntelaar show something.

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  3. Robles. I like him

    Howard is our number 1 and may be for 2014. Guzan is his deputy. Hahnemann is our no3. I’d say Robles is our no4 atm and may be our no3 for 2014. Plus there is still Perkins who may have made the roster for the WC as our 3rd GK had he stayed in Norway. We have GK in the 2nd Bundesliga but I forgot his name. Our GK’s are not like how they were 5 years ago with Friedel and Keller, but we have depth for sure.

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  4. How amusing. However, not surprisingly for someone whose wit is composed in cliches, you missed the point. If anything, I’m rather annoyed at the lack of coverage for youth squads on here. I’m merely explaining why Ives doesn’t ever speak highly of youth. The reactive part of being a reporter versus the proactive nature of fandom. But please, by all means, cast insults casually.

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  5. Yeah, I don’t really see how my post had much to do with the approach this blog takes; I was just mentioning Ives’ take on the Williams hype.

    Ives–and I’d say that’s not terribly high, though given what sounds like a bad contractual situation we may not be hearing much of him anytime soon regardless.

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  6. The point is, this interview released _today_ said that he wants to get his passport and get a call-up. Ives never said he was against reporting on him, just the hyping. And I can’t say I blame him. The relentless hyping and wanting to cap anything vaguely American/thinking about getting a green card 5 years from now maybe/that moves is highly annoying. Speculating is not reporting.

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  7. People have pretty negative reactions to it in basketball and football…but the reactions are usually something like “this isn’t soccer”, which doesn’t help.

    But you have a point about baseball, where non-steroidal cheating has always been seen as a charming part of the game.

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  8. But if Ives is a reporter and with his slew of comrades updating this blog, that a guy is getting his US passport to play for the US is news worthy – hysteria or not. He’s a solid player and will hopefully continue to grow as a youngster. Reporting on this is not part of the hysteria.

    I for one would love to know more things about transactions like this as this blog doesn’t seem to cover those bits anymore.

    (SBI-What’s the transaction exactly? Williams saying he’s planning on getting his passport? He said the same thing months ago. Where’s the news Josh? Oh right, there is no news. What’s news is him being called into camp, or at the very least him getting his passport. Writing something about him planning to get his passport, when he’s already stated that intent in the past, is pretty pointless.

    As for the bits you claim we don’t cover anymore, not really sure what you’re talking about. We try to cover all the relevent and significant news pertaining to American soccer. We might miss things here or there, but I think we do a good job of getting to the most important stuff, while also trying to provide the random tidbits.)

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  9. “It’s all about trying to outsmart the opponent. Why are people on this country such hypocrites? This country does the equivalent of “diving” to the poor countries in the world. All the time”

    Che, what are you on about hahahah

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  10. I guess my larger point is I don’t care if 1,000,000 people show up for a friendly, as long as the majority of league averages below 20k and several below 10k we have not arrived and should not be congratulating teams for friendly crowds or outcomes.

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  11. Okay, Ernesto, enough time-wasting on sporting websites. Better get back to your studies. That Noam Chomsky book ain’t gonna read itself, you know.

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  12. Being an Olympique Marseille fan, I remember Mendoza well.
    Simply put he sucked, really, really sucked.
    His nickname was “El Condor” (The Condor), it turned into “le Con d’Or” (French pun on the word Condor meaning the Golden “d’Or” Jerk/Loser/Shmuck “Con”)
    And this was back when he was younger and supposedly better, so I really don’t see him being worth much at Columbus.

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  13. dont get your hopes up. even the EPL only averages a little over 35,000 a year.
    lets all accept the fact that soccer wont grow as fast as we hope. until then enjoy it!

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  14. There is nothing wrong with asking players to be honest and play with integrity. That’s what a real man is supposed to do not only on the field, but in his everyday life.

    And what the hell are you talking about “this country does the equivalent of diving to poor countries all over the world”. That’s utterly the most asinine statement I’ve ever heard. If you don’t like this country then get the F out.

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  15. Mendoza will fit right in with the city of Columbus. I just hope he can keep his act together after seeing all of THE Ohio State University co-eds.

    Luis Robles was not at all impressive during the Gold Cup last year. He still has a long way to go if he expects to have a future with the national team.

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  16. not only that, but we don’t have a problem iwth diving in basketball, framing pitches in baseball (getting less often with strike zone technology) kickers diving in football etc etc. It’s an easy way to not like soccer without giving a real explanation.

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  17. AC Milan asked for compensation for Gooch. I think clubs make these requests all of the time but do they ever actually receive anything from the federations?

    MEN-DO-ZA!
    (What, no other fans of The Simpsons on here?!)

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  18. The diving thing… Why are people in this country so caught up with it? Robben is still a magnificent player US will hardly ever produce a player like him. What’s wrong with players “trying to steal your wallet” approach to the game? It’s all about trying to outsmart the opponent. Why are people on this country such hypocrites? This country does the equivalent of “diving” to the poor countries in the world. All the time

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  19. Re: Ives tweet about 60k tickets sold for Galaxy v. Real Madrid at HDC: I am over the friendlies. The league has still not won over the country, I will know MLS has arrived when I see 60k at Galaxy v. Chivas or 60k at Sounders v. Portland (although, the latter might be possible in 2011). There were 90k in the Rose Bowl last year for a Barca match. The 60k this year are coming to see Real, not the MLS side. I believe soccer has arrived in the US, but our league has not. I want to see a MLS team needs make a deep run in CCL this season.

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  20. Ives is a reporter, not a fan. By this I mean, he isn’t taken by promise or potential, like we fans, but only reports on things actually accomplished. Hence, his constant stream of “wait and see” when talking about youth players. Being a reporter and not scout lends to this.

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  21. Mendoza was always one of those guys who you thought would be pretty good if he ever got his s together. Some nasty skill but too little discipline. On pure talent alone he could do some nice things in MLS. Or he could bust like Waldir Saenz.

    Heck of a pass by el Chorri though on that video.

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  22. Mendoza, another promising striker that went nowhere. He had a tremendous year with Brugge but then, nothing. The joke in Peru was that he was going to fulfill his potential by 2050. Ouch

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  23. Someone please show this clip of Mendoza to the MLS!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhCGB8jglX0

    And good thing that Bielsa stays with Chile…I mean Mexico wanted him badly but the people in Chile really proved to him from the beginning that he was going there for a serious long-term project and not the childlish stuff that happens to coaches in Mexico if the team loses 3 games in a row.

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  24. When federations are given the bill for injuries suffered during international
    competitions by a player’s club team is there anything that says they have to
    compensate the club for lost services from a player? (thinking about AC Milan’s question
    with Gooch about this with his knee injury in WC qualifying- like Robben’s)

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  25. I know Ives isn’t terribly high on him, but in an interview out today, Daniel Williams said he plans on getting his passport over the winter break and hopes to be called into camp for the US.

    (SBI-It wasn’t that I wasn’t high on him. I just wasn’t caught up in the hysteria. He was a reserve team midfielder who got thrown in at right back because the club needed him. He had some good games there, but eventually got exposed and went back to the bench. Yes, he’s young and it’s good that he’s there and wanting to play for the USA, but some people were going crazy about him without considering the circumstances and reality of the situation.)

    Reply

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